Directives of the Heart
by PyroQueenOfFire
Summary: Casey and Alex Carmichael were once part of the U.S.S. Demeter, but stranded on a strange planet where their captain ignored the prime directive. Now they've been saved, but they have to redeem themselves...or be punished. Spock/OC; Bones/OC
1. Welcome to the Arena of Carthos

The sun rose that morning as it always did, bathing the arena in a bright, warm glow. Alexandra Carmichael was already awake, her skin soaking in the rays as she checked on her armies. Every day when the sun rose high into the sky, Alexandra was up and wiping her men into shape. As she did so, Cassandra Carmichael was waking up in a bed of utter brilliance, and smiling as the sunlight hit her face. Then she would turn over and look at the other bed, where Richard Dreyfuss laid still sleeping.

"Disgusting pig." Cassandra muttered under her breath and then she would get dressed and hurry out of the room, leaving her 'king' behind.

As Cassandra left the room, she pulled back her long dark hair, and wished she had the sense to pull it back as neat and tight as Alexandra did hers. Both had long dark hair and bright, espresso colored eyes, but both though alike, looked quite different. Cassandra was taller and her legs were longer, but though faster, Alexandra was the most cunning. The two of them had been putting their heads together for six years trying to get out of their lots in life, no matter how privileged or blessed their lives seemed on the outside.

Ever since the U.S.S. Demeter had landed on the planet of Carthos, the crew members had been picked off one by one. Eventually Captain Richard Dreyfuss had found a way to be King, appointing his first officer Cassandra Carmichael to Queen, and his chief of security Alexandra Carmichael to the head of his armies, and they were now all that was left of their Federation Ship. For six long years, the three had been in charge—Alexandra and Cassandra simply surviving as Richard let the power go to his head, in turn breaking the prime directive and making Cassandra and Alexandra realize that their allegiance no longer lay with their captain.

Cassandra hurried down the stone steps of the palace, Alexandra praising the good warriors, and egging the others on to be better. When she'd made it down, she smiled as the men sparred, shirtless around her, wondering when exactly she'd completely succumbed to the illusion of a horny queen, while Alexandra furthered her independence and feminine strength. Still, Cassandra had found something that Alexandra had not thought to look for, and she had to share it with her younger sister.

"Alex!" Cassandra called to her.

Alexandra smiled and turned to her sister. "Good morning, Casey. You seem rather excited for someone who has to actually sleep in the room with the king. Hey! Did I tell you to stop sparring? I didn't think so—ten laps around the palace."

Casey giggled as the man ran past her, contempt on his face. He did not want to run, but since he had in fact broken his morning training, he knew the penalty. After checking out his incredible hind quarters, Casey turned to Alex and smiled pleasantly. Just that morning as she got dressed, she had seen something in the sky—something familiar. A starship. Ever since they had been stranded there, Casey and Alex had prayed for a starship to come and rescue them…now they just had to go about this the right way.

"I saw something, Alex…something amazing and fantastic and—Sir Broslin is looking incredibly sexy in his Spartan-esque outfit." Casey said with a giggle and then groaned when Alex rolled her eyes. "Why did I have to play my part so well, Alex? I was never this whoreish before."

Alex laughed. "Comes with playing a part for 6 years…let us talk of this over there. You—Sir Broslin—you are in charge until I get back."

"Yes, Milady." Sir Broslin replied.

He watched as Casey and Alex retreated to a safe distance to discuss without being overheard. The sun was a little higher in the sky and as Casey pointed to the figure in the sky, Alex smiled—it was definitely a starship. Alex took her sister by the hand and dragged her along in the soft grass to their secret nook. Right along the side of the castle 5 years ago, Alex and Casey had found a secret passage that Richard still knew nothing about. They went through the passage and walked a little in the dampness along the stone floor and walls, smiling as they made it to the tiny room that only they knew about.

"How do we go about this? We have to be smart." Alex told her sister softly.

Casey nodded. "Eventually Dick will contact them and kidnap some, forcing them to fight in the arena. When that happens, you and I will need to grab the most loyal of the fighters and propose a plan."

Alex took a deep breath. "You understand that we have technically gone against the prime directive as well right, Casey?"

"Yes, Alex…but to be fair, we have only been surviving. We thought about starting that rebellion, remember? But we didn't—because we are true followers of the Federation." Casey told her proudly.

Alex smiled, but they both couldn't help but think that they had failed. It had been their sworn duty to make sure that Richard had stayed on the path of a Star Fleet Captain, but soon Alex and Casey had found themselves completely only in it for survival. Richard held all of the power, and Casey especially knew that there was no way to get away from him without dying. Though not being entirely 'patriotic', Casey and Alex were not ready to die for the Federation—they quite enjoyed living.

"Whatever we decide to do…we have to keep Richard out of the loop." Alex said.

Casey nodded. "Dick won't even know what hit him."

****

Casey and Alex had made their way out of their secret hiding place effortlessly, Casey smiling at the knights, winking at Sir Broslin as she headed to go and see Richard. Alex found herself focusing on her best men, looking up abruptly as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, Richard's right hand man, Gerald Costas, coming to tell her to bring the best men to the arena. That meant that there was a landing party on the planet already—a group of people that would surely meet their death if Casey and Alex didn't do something about it and fast.

"This is my wife, Cassandra." Richard told Jim Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu and Marcus Bloom as she entered the room.

Casey rolled her eyes. "He does this all the time, I'm not his wife—I'm simply his Queen. It wasn't _my_ choice, I assure you."

Kirk smiled a little and then he found himself only being able to look at Casey as she sat in her throne. She was intrigued, that much he could tell, but he had absolutely no idea that she was intrigued by his first officer—by the Vulcan. She'd only seen a couple of Vulcans and she'd never been able to understand them. This one was attractive and waiting for his captain to act, and Casey was trying to figure out how to talk to them without Richard there—how to get them to help her and Alex.

"Forgive her—she's strong-willed." Richard said, clearing his throat a little. "So Captain Kirk…I should warn you that no one leaves Carthos. So you should settle in and fight the men that General Carmichael brings for you to spar against. If you don't fight them to the death…they will kill you instead."

Kirk looked at Richard for the first time since Casey had entered the room. She had struck him as an incredibly strong-willed woman and he liked that. Add in that he thought she was beautiful and easily persuaded to go against the man who wanted her that she was repulsed by, and he had an 'in' with her—seduction that he had to go through with because of his duty to his ship. Still…why was she following Captain Dreyfuss when he'd broken the prime directive? When this was all over, she would have just as much to pay for as he did—she had after all been his first officer.

"How could you do this? Take over these people like this?" Kirk asked Richard in an arrogant tone.

Casey held her hand up and Richard shut his mouth. "To be fair, Captain, Dick—Richard—defeated everyone that was set on him. It was only fair that he take his rightful place as ruler of these primitive species. Add in that he completely murdered the king, and you've got yourself a ruler."

"You were part of the Federation! You were part of a system that was built to promote peace!" Kirk exclaimed.

"Less talking and more fighting." Richard announced as Casey swallowed because she'd already made them think that she was on Richard's side—and she most certainly was not.

Casey watched as Alex's three best men were sent into the room, Sulu, Chekov and McCoy being held by the guards as Kirk, Spock and Bloom were shoved into the ring. Casey bit her lip as Sir Broslin headed straight at Bloom, jousting at him with his lance. It was hard for her because she was so attached to Sir Broslin, but she didn't want anything to happen to the landing party. Then Sir Frost headed for Kirk and Sir Drell headed for Spock, Sir Broslin and Sir Drell switching when Spock seemed to overpower him. Since Sir Broslin was the strongest, it was only fair that he was paired with the strongest of the landing party.

Alex had chosen to stay in the shadows and watch, biting her nails off a little as she saw how good Kirk was at dodging the advances that Sir Frost made. She was most worried about Bloom when Sir Drell knocked him down to the ground with a swipe under his feet, stabbing his lance into his heart. Bloom let out a cry of anguish, Kirk lunging at Sir Drell as Spock Vulcan nerve pinched Sir Broslin and made Casey stand up to use her commanding 'Queen' voice.

"STOP!" She commanded.

Alex found herself heading out into the violence and dragging Sir Drell out of the fold, wishing Richard had let them have weapons when her men were forced to have them. Alex found Kirk's eyes on her, wondering who she was, and she checked Bloom and sighed sadly shaking her head. She looked up as a hand reached out to check him too, looking into the beautiful silver/blue eyes of McCoy.

_Wow_. She thought. _Those are the prettiest eyes I have ever seen._

McCoy looked at Kirk. "He's dead, Jim."

Casey swallowed. "You see, Richard?! This is what you've brought to them! Don't you feel any shame at all?!"

"Be quiet, Cassandra!" Richard thundered, a dangerous and murderous look in his eyes as he snapped at her. "Take the prisoners to the dungeons!"

Alex stepped back and then she slapped Sir Broslin softly and helped him out as he recovered from the nerve pinch. Casey chastised herself for finding the nerve pinch attractive in any way, and then hurried out to meet up with Alex as Richard headed to go and have some food with the hand maidens. Alex nodded at Casey as she approached and they both looked around to make sure they were not being followed. Heading down to the dungeons, the two took light steps and tried to slow their breathing. When they got there, the guards bowed a little, making Casey roll her eyes and sigh.

"General Alex has this all under control—it is my right as Queen to talk to the prisoners…leave…like now." Casey told the three burly guards.

They nodded and moved out of her way, Kirk immediately rambling on about how she should never have strayed from the prime directive. Casey held her hand up to Alex as she was going to jump in, letting Kirk ramble. He felt helpless and in need to do the right thing, and Casey understood the feeling a little too well, Alex rolling her eyes as Kirk continued to say his speech. Alex was quite aware—being versed in security protocol—that Kirk had to let it out so he would not be responsible in any way to the way the prime directive had been destroyed on this planet by Richard.

"We are not here to argue with you, Kirk—you're quite right." Casey said when he'd taken a breath.

Kirk was miffed. "Wait…what?"

Alex nodded. "Yes—we are in no way in alliance with Richard, rather you believe us or not."

Casey held her hand out and Alex handed her the keys. "We need your help, Kirk."

"I had hoped that someone as beautiful as you would not be influenced by the likes of Captain Dreyfuss." Kirk told her with a wink.

Casey raised an eyebrow. "I think my soul just threw up a little."

"That is highly improbable." Spock told her.

Casey smiled at him and Kirk instantly saw her attraction to his first officer. "I believe that my soul can do anything I want it to do, Commander."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Are you going to help us to help you or what?"


	2. Escape

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Well Aidan and I are glad you're enjoying it thus far.**

**And now we get to see how they all plan to escape.**

**Will someone else die?**

**And Holy Crap whose gorgeous eyes are those?!**

**Oh they just belong to Bones…Mmmm.**

**Oh and Karl Urban may have hazel eyes, but uh….our McCoy's eyes are DeForest Kelley based cause damn…prettiest eyes I've ever seen…sorry Jensen.**

***shrugs a little***

****

Neither Alex nor Casey was certain whether or not Kirk or the others believed them entirely, but one thing was for certain—Kirk was pretty accepting. He was surprised himself that he had agreed to their terms and not been stabbed in the back yet. Maybe they really weren't on Richard's side…but they had still violated the prime directive in their own way. They had assimilated themselves into a culture they shouldn't have interfered with at all.

"Here's the thing—Richard has this dampening field over everything and I can get it to shut down but we've got _exactly_ 45 seconds to beam out before the generator comes on. Getting to your ship will be easy—it's getting out of orbit that will be hard because as you figured out when you came in…Richard is ready for anything." Casey said dismally.

"If you are so against him, why did you not fight back sooner?" Spock asked them as they slunk along, trying to avoid the other guards.

Kirk nodded. "And where is this General Alex that has everything under control?"

Alex shot him a look. "Don't be sexist, Captain."

It took Kirk a moment to realize that the male General he'd been looking for had actually been female and right in front of his face. He apologized and Alex accepted it after a pause, and then Casey turned to Spock to address his question and found herself completely giddy. She'd never seen a Vulcan before up close and personal—she'd only gotten to read about them. Here was one right next to her, first officer as she had been once, and she just wanted to dissect him sort of…she needed to figure out what made him tick.

"After the first year down here it became obvious to Alex and me that if we wanted to survive, then we had to go along with it. I let Dick appoint me to Queen, Alex let him appoint her to the head of the Royal Guards, and we kept to our own business while trying to get Richard out of the way secretly. Against the prime directive or no, you can't just kill your captain." Casey said with a look on her face like Spock should know that.

Alex nodded. "No matter how badly I wanted to stab him in his sleep most nights."

"How very humanitarian of you." McCoy told her sarcastically.

Alex smiled at the man with the beautiful eyes. "It would have been more humanitarian had I simply offed him and let the people get back to their lives while Casey and I found a way to get off of this planet—but like Casey said…you can't just kill your captain."

The men were quite pleased to hear that though they no longer had the same loyalty for their captain that they used to, the women in front of them were able to show loyalty. They were simply trying to find the right people to take Richard down, and they had succeeded. They were going to get off of this planet, and they were going to somehow get a Federation ship here to take care of Richard. Unfortunately for them though, they had two trips in the transporter to make.

"There's too many of us." Alex said, counting them all. "We have to make two trips."

"Can you _do_ that in just 45 seconds?" Casey asked. "Alex and I will come up in the second group but…that's cutting it a little close, don't you think, Captain?"

Kirk didn't know why, but he was highly flattered that she already considered him her new captain. She and Alex were waiting for orders, and Kirk found himself definitely trusting them—especially since they hadn't tried to kill any of them yet. They actually genuinely seemed to want to go with them to the Enterprise, and help them to get away from the life that Richard had built on Carthos. Though apparently not attracted to him, Kirk was still attracted to Casey, and he admired her determination to get them all to safety. It was settled—they were definitely coming with them.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "So far you have shown us that you can be trusted…but when you return you will have to answer for what you did down here."

"We are well away of that, Commander." Casey told him, looking him up and down even though he was starting to irritate her—she was definitely attracted to the disgruntled man in front of her. "Now are we helping you to escape or not?"

"Spock? You, Bones, Chekov and Sulu will beam up first, and then Casey, Alex and I will come up in the second wind." Kirk instructed.

"But Captain—" Spock protested, not entirely sure that they should leave the captain in the hands of two that could still potentially turn on them.

"—you have your orders, Mr. Spock." Kirk replied.

Spock nodded, and they followed Casey and Alex into the main control room, Spock watching as Casey went to the large console. Alex smiled a little at the beauty that was Leonard McCoy, and McCoy smiled at her politely, highly intrigued by her as well. Alex could care less that Spock was hovering over Casey to make sure that she was doing what she needed to be doing. As an ex security commander, Alex was quite aware of what it was like to follow around suspicious persons. They were new to them and still capable of turning on them, so it was only natural for the Vulcan to suspect something—he was after all the logical one of them all.

Casey couldn't help but smile a little as the attractive pointy-eared man came up behind her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her. She knew that she was going to have to serve under him when they go to the Enterprise, so why not show off a little? Then it dawned on her—when they got to the Enterprise, what station would she be in? She wouldn't get to be the first officer anymore, and she definitely wouldn't get to be queen of an entire planet. Fantastic…she was getting demoted. This was all Richard's fault! He was so lucky that he wasn't there right then to feel her wrath!

"It would be beneficial if you simply input—" Spock tried.

"—I know what I'm doing, thank you very much." Casey cut him off. "I was just focusing on something else.

Spock nodded. "I was quite aware when you became slightly less efficient."

"Oh so you couldn't tell by the glazed over look on my face?" She asked him bitterly.

She sighed and apologized when Spock backed off a little, Spock nodding in acceptance of the apology. She was simply stressed about what was going on, and nervous to be leaving the place she'd somehow secretly called home. Alex was feeling the same way, wondering why she never realized how much this planet had grown on her. She was glad to leave the people to their own devices, but she had grown so used to her position of power—it would be hard to go back.

"I expect you both to come directly to Sick Bay for physicals." McCoy told Alex, heading over to stand with Spock, Chekov and Sulu as Kirk explained to Scotty that he had limited time to get this all done.

Alex winked. "I'll be ready and waiting, Doctor."

McCoy smiled at the blatant flirting and then was energized up onto the ship, Casey coming over and right as they began to get beamed up, the alarms going off, Richard showed up and grabbed Casey's hand.

****

"Let me go!" Casey cried as they made it up to the Enterprise.

By grabbing a hold of her, Richard had caught a ride up on the transporter and now had her pulled close to him. Kirk had pulled his phaser out on Richard, but Richard had a dagger, and held it flush against Casey's throat. With the free hand, Casey motioned for Kirk to put the phaser down, Kirk having to grab Alex to hold her back. Alex was certain she could take Richard without damaging Casey, but at the same time, it was a hard situation to deal with. What did he want anyways? They were leaving him there to his own devices. Granted they would have sent the Federation after him but still.

"You will be beaming both of us back down." Richard told Kirk firmly.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Way to give the captain all the power."

"I am your captain!" Richard exclaimed, completely livid.

Casey would have nodded but the knife was starting to cut into her throat a little bit and she could only wince. She noticed Spock coming towards them ever so slowly out of Richard's eyesight, and smiled ever so slightly—disgruntled Vulcan to the rescue. She was a much bigger fan of his, as was Alex, who put her hands up in surrender when she saw Spock take a step out of the corner of her eye, a drop of blood falling from Casey's neck onto her clothes. If they could just get Richard away from her, this could all be over now.

"Ease up on me, Baby." Casey told Richard soothingly, reaching her free hand up to his wrist as he clutched the knife even harder.

"You were going to leave me for them." Richard said. "That's the worst thing a first officer could do to her captain."

Casey nodded a little as the knife moved a little bit away from her neck. "It is the worst thing I could do to you and I'm sorry."

"You can't just take my sister." Alex told Richard strongly.

Kirk reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and though he was still kind of a stranger to her, Alex welcomed the comfort. Kirk apparently understood what it meant to have someone you had to care for no matter what, and Alex felt a little stronger. She'd always a little more emotionally in control, but watching her sister bleed because of Richard being a jackass was not on her list of things to see in her lifetime. She wanted Richard gone and she wanted him gone now. Why couldn't he have just stayed on Carthos and gotten the Hell out of their lives? She was done feeling loyalty for him—he'd lost that right a long time ago.

"I still need you too, Alexandra." Richard told her. "Come back with me."

"Richard…that is not your home anymore." Kirk tried. "You need to come back and have a hearing."

Richard shook his head. "You do not control me, Captain!"

"Baby, come on, please?" Casey asked him, wincing as the knife sliced her a little.

Spock acted on impulse and reached out to Vulcan nerve pinch Richard, Casey getting the knife out of his hand as he collapsed on the transporter pad. Spock reached out to check her wound and though he didn't show any concern in his eyes since it was only logical to check her wound, Casey smiled at him a little since she felt safe with him around. Alex hurried over to her and checked her over, smacking her arm hard making Casey shoot her a look. She'd just been cut for heaven's sake! Why was Alex hitting her?

"I actually believed the 'baby' part!" Alex told her sister angrily. "Tell me you wouldn't tap that!"

Casey laughed, as she held her throat. "I wouldn't—he is so not my type."

"You should get to Sick Bay." Kirk told them with a smile. "Doctor McCoy will be awaiting your arrival."

Alex and Casey nodded, both of them being escorted there by Commander Spock. He was certainly much more willing to believe their loyalty now, but it did not change the fact that he was worried that they would get too attached to the ship and not remember there was a hearing they would have to go to. They had still been part of the breaking of the prime directive, and they had to answer for that. It was the only logical conclusion that Spock could come to but still…Casey and Alex were their guests, not their prisoners. They had proven that they could be trusted, and that they could work as members of the crew.

"Sick Bay." Spock announced.

"We can take it from here, Handsome." Casey told him with a wink, and as he raised his eyebrow, Alex dragged her by the hand into the medical bay.

McCoy looked up and rushed over. "What happened?"

Casey waved it off. "Richard hitched a ride and got a little knife happy—just a flesh wound."

McCoy nodded, worried about hers and Alex's safety, sneaking a glance at Alex as he healed Casey's wound. Casey smiled at him, glad that she could be healed and not have to tough it out for the most part like on the planet, and then she noticed the looks being exchanged between McCoy and Alex. Alex was completely enthralled by him—completely taken with him. Casey hadn't seen Alex taken with a man for years…at least not since the man on Carthos a good three years back that died in the ring.

"What about those physicals, Doctor?" Alex asked him.

Casey coughed. "God please—not in front of me."

McCoy actually blushed. "She meant the physicals I have to perform on you two before you start your temporary duties on the Enterprise."

"Oh, doctor—I'm not one for sloppy second—perform on me first, please." She told him.

McCoy couldn't help but a laugh a little at her forward joke, Alex nudging her sister in the ribs a little harder than normal. Alex was already crushing on the doctor with the beautiful eyes, and Casey was making the entire situation with him completely uncomfortable. Casey held her hands up in surrender and agreed to the physicals, both of them passing with flying colors. They'd been kept healthy and in shape on the planet, and after a couple more flirtatious glances between Alex and McCoy, Alex and Casey were escorted by Spock to their quarters, Alex rolling her eyes as Casey made a subtle pass at Spock he didn't even notice, and then he left the two to contemplate things, their quarters right next to each other.

"We've been demoted." Casey said dismally. "But on the bright side, the doctor was checking you out!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Casey…and it seriously sucks we were demoted."

"Yeah—who do we have to sleep with around here for a promotion?" Casey asked and then sighed. "Sorry…horny queen seeping through…too much time on that stupid planet. I used to be professional!"

Alex laughed. "You'll chill out soon enough. Six years was a long time, and we can't change back overnight."

Casey nodded. "You're right—let's meet up early and go to the Mess Hall, game?"

"Game." Alex replied with a smile.


	3. Pike

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Poor gals got demoted!**

**Oh the fun Aidan and I have planned for you now!**

**=P**

**Honestly, we're having a little TOO much fun brainstorming ideas for this story.**

**Hope you're enjoying it like we are!**

****

Casey pulled her hair back out of her face that morning and sat down at the console in her room to try and catch up on all of the things that she had been missing the last six years, while Alex painted her fingernails and sighed heavily. Even though they both had quite a bit to do on the ship when they were orbiting planets and working on Away Missions, they were quite bored. Casey less than Alex, for Casey had a secret obsession she could now indulge in again since she and Alex were back with 'civilization'. An obsession she was slightly embarrassed about, and got flustered when speaking about—even to Alex.

"Whatcha doin'?" Alex asked her older sister, simply coming into her quarters without signaling her presence.

"AH!" Casey screamed, and hurriedly covered up her console after muting the sound. "What the Hell?! Can't a girl get any privacy around here?!"

Alex laughed. "How's your man, looking?"

Casey blushed. "He looks great."

Alex nodded and came over to sit next to her sister as she slowly removed her hands from the console. This was not the first time that Alex had walked in on her sister watching Admiral Christopher Pike on her console within the confines of her quarters—and she knew it wouldn't be the last. Casey continued to play the log of his that she had been watching, and Alex decided that since she had nothing better to do, she'd watch as well. In fact Alex quite looked up to and admired Admiral Pike—she just wasn't in love with him like Casey was.

"God just the fact that he's in a wheelchair now makes me want him more!" Casey exclaimed as the log ended.

Alex laughed and rolled her eyes. "You are the weirdest person that I know."

Casey shrugged. "My insanity keeps me young—you should think about going insane…you're getting worry wrinkles."

Alex smacked her sister's hand when she started to poke her face, and they both laughed a little. They knew that in order to truly feel at home on the Enterprise they both had to still feel at home with each other after all of this, and they did—they felt very at home. Now it was just a matter of getting the feeling of being at home to come when they were with the other members of the crew. Casey was a little closer to that feeling than Alex was, because Kirk had promoted her to 2nd in Command—even if it still felt like a demotion to Casey, who was used to being second in command and in charge of the ship almost as much as Richard had been.

Alex, though completely taken with McCoy, had found herself becoming fast friends with Kirk. She figured it was because he and Casey were so alike, and he actually told funny jokes that kept her laughing. Casey was growing closest to Scotty, while still keeping herself at a good enough distance to 'stalk' Spock. She was still completely enthralled by the half Vulcan male, and since she figured she couldn't actually have him, she had her logs of Pike to keep her occupied while she studied Spock from afar. Even with their newfound crushes, Casey and Alex found themselves actually feeling rather comfortable on their new home.

"One of us should probably go down and see Dick today." Casey told Alex with a heavy sigh.

Alex laughed. "Okay, but it's going to be me—you always steal his food."

Casey shrugged. "Serves him right for practically cutting my throat! Bitch should starve!"

Alex laughed again. "Did you just call Richard a 'bitch'? I thought that you took pride in being a bitch! Didn't you just tarnish yourself?"

Casey bit her lip and faked a small cry, both of them standing up and heading out of her quarters to go and visit with Richard. Casey wasn't looking forward to it after her _last_ visit with Richard, and she hoped that with Alex there, Richard would keep his mouth shut. Normally Casey didn't keep things from her sister, but in this case, it was in her best interest to keep everything that she was keeping from her, from her. There were things that had happened on the planet that Casey would rather keep to herself. Just imagining her conversation with Richard when she'd seen him after he regained consciousness made her cringe a little on the inside.

"_Looks like someone's awake." Casey told Richard as he woke up in the brig behind a force field. "You kind tried to kill me, Dick."_

_Richard shrugged. "After everything we've been through, I just assumed you wouldn't betray me."_

_Casey smiled sadly. "Dick…you betrayed me when you went against the prime directive—and don't you dare protest about how you made me your queen. There were plenty of things that happened down on Carthos that I would very much like to forget."_

"_Like that night?" Richard asked her._

_Casey swallowed. "I was sad, I was tipsy, you were there, you offered and I accepted—I don't love you and I never have and I never will because I can't respect you."_

_Richard sighed. "I gave you everything down there, Cass—if you'd just stuck by me then we could have continued to live down there like we were always meant to."_

"_Do you hear yourself, Richard?" Casey asked him and he softened a little when he realized she was calling him by his full name again like she used to before she grew to loathe him. "You were the captain of a Federation starship with morals and good standing and the second you found a way to give yourself supreme power you broke the trust of your entire crew…you broke __**my**__ trust. I'm sorry, Richard…I don't stand with you anymore."_

Casey would really rather Alex _not_ figure out that she and Richard had even had one night together, because on her list of mistakes…that night was really high up there. Alex looked over to see her sister thinking rather hard, and sighed a little—Casey was troubled about what Richard was going to say. Alex was pretty sure that since the prime directive was so important to her Casey would never be involved in anything the contrary, but maybe Casey was hiding something…they were sisters—sometimes they weren't entirely truthful with each other. Alex gripped Casey's hand and the two went to stand in front of Richard's cell and he smiled at them.

"Good afternoon, Richard." Alex told him. "Wanna chat?"

While Casey and Alex talked to Richard, Spock found himself raising an eyebrow with a smile on his face—he had no idea why Cassandra Carmichael intrigued him so much. It had nothing to do with her comely looks or her commanding nature—though those were part of it—it was the way she looked in the logs. Cassandra E. Carmichael had high marks in Star Fleet Academy and was best known for her many dissertations on species of the galaxy. She was definitely the kind of woman/officer that was multi-purpose as well: she was well skilled in nursing, knew her way around a starship engine, and had a several languages under her belt—she would make a very positive addition to the crew.

"You actually look a little awe-struck, Spock." McCoy teased as he walked into the medical labs to check up on some vaccines he'd been trying to develop.

Spock shook his head. "I am simply researching the Carmichaels—Jim wants to make them permanent parts of the crew. It seemed illogical given that they are to have a hearing that could very well expel them from Star Fleet."

"That Alex has quite the record, doesn't she?" McCoy asked with a goofy smile on his face. "She's an amazing engineer and one of the best security officers in the fleet—her record speaks for itself…unless you're a little caught up on researching the other Carmichael…the one who did that dissertation on the differences and similarities of Vulcans and Romulans."

Spock put his hands behind his back in a military fashion and simply shook his head. "I am not sure that I have any idea what it is that you are insinuating."

"I'm insinuating that a certain Vulcan science officer has a crush on the new 2nd in command." McCoy told him, nudging his ribs playfully. "I think that's adorable."

"I do not indulge in human behaviors such as crushes—not even with Lieutenant Uhura, so kindly wipe the smug look off of your face." Spock informed McCoy, and then headed out of the science labs as McCoy laughed.

McCoy really did think that it was adorable that Spock had a crush on Casey—heck McCoy had absolutely no trouble at all admitting that he had a crush on Alex. There was just something about the way that Alex asserted herself—and he knew it had a lot to do with the way that Alex smiled at him. McCoy was pretty sure that the main reason he was crushing on Alex was her clumsiness—Alex came into Sick Bay with all sorts of bruises and sprains. She was one of the most adorable clutzes he had ever had the pleasure to treat. They talked about all sorts of things while he fixed her up too, and he was pretty close to asking her out—he just wanted to wait until the hearing so that he knew that she was going to stick around first.

****

"You have absolutely no idea how much I love Pike!" Casey exclaimed as she burst into her sister's quarters that day and she immediately flushed. "Good evening, Captain. Scotty and I went over some jet propulsion plans and then he let me off duty and…hi. I keep forgetting that you're becoming best friends with my little sister."

Kirk laughed a little at Casey's burst into the room. Pike, eh? Kirk really hadn't expected Casey to be into old men in wheelchairs. Then again, Kirk really didn't know too much about Casey as of yet—he knew mostly of Alex. Alex of whom he _knew_ had a crush on McCoy he wished one of them would go for, and Alex of whom seemed to trip over herself quite a lot. Kirk really enjoyed their company quite a bit and he still had a bit of a want of Casey himself—she was a very attractive woman. Still…how do you compare with Admiral Christopher Pike anyway?

"Pike? As in Admiral Pike?" Kirk asked her.

Casey shook her head quickly. "What? No! He's totally old! I meant Pike my…naked mole rat?"

Alex wanted to laugh out loud but she knew exactly how her sister felt when it came to taking about Admiral Pike. Casey acted like she was all outgoing and flirtatious—it was how she'd been living for the last 6 years—but Casey got really flushed and embarrassed when it came to actually talking about and confronting the men that she had actual feelings for. She'd always been incredibly terrified of rejection, and so Alex was pretty sure that was the main reason that Casey seemed to latch onto men that she really couldn't have. If Casey was going to say that she had a naked mole rat…then Casey had a naked mole rat.

"You have a naked mole rat?" Kirk asked her, his eyebrow raised in suspicion. "You can admit that you like Pike—I swear I won't hold it against you in any way."

Casey laughed and waved her hands. "No, no—my naked mole rat, Pike. I've been teaching him how to do tricks and he just rolled over! I love that mole rat!"

Kirk smiled. "Well I've never seen a naked mole rat before…can I see him?"

Casey could feel the nervousness rising inside of her as she realized that she really hadn't thought that lie through. Now she was going to have to come up with some really random, really weird reason why her naked mole rat couldn't be seen. It couldn't be something ridiculous like it was an invisible naked mole rat, or that it had magic powers and was currently not on the ship—it had to be something believable. Also, if she was going to keep this up, she was going to need to _buy_ an actual naked mole rat and teach it how to roll over. Man…this lie was going to be hard to maintain and if she wasn't careful, it was all going to completely unravel.

"He doesn't…like people." Casey told Kirk with a shrug.

Alex nodded. "It's true, Jimmy—sometimes Casey can't even get the poor thing to come out into the open. He's a shy little bugger—even goes through mood swings."

Casey smiled at the help of her sister. "I promise that the next time he's out I'll let you know and we're try to convince him that you're a nice enough guy and he might let you hold him, even. For now, it is time for me to go back to my quarters and let you guys enjoy your food. I have some food of myself to eat, and I need to convince Pike to get his little naked butt into bed."

Casey tried to refrain from making a joke her sister would enjoy about Admiral Pike's naked butt in bed, and left Alex's quarters. Kirk laughed a hearty laugh as Alex laughed too, and then Kirk started to shake his head. Alex was determined to make him believe that Pike the naked mole rat existed—especially when Casey was undoubtedly trying to figure out how to make this stick right now. She was probably looking up what settlements might be selling naked mole rats. And why a _naked mole rat_? There were plenty of other strange animals that Casey could have come up with on the spot but…a naked mole rat?

"What kind of name is 'Pike' for a first name for an animal?" Kirk asked her.

Alex looked at him. "She got it from an old movie—like a really old movie. She and I used to watch really old movies in Earth's database all the time."

Kirk laughed some more. "There was a movie with a naked mole rat named Pike?! That's priceless!"

"He was _not_ a naked mole rat! He was Buffy's boyfriend in the movie!" Alex protested and then she shrugged. "Casey has weird taste."

Kirk nodded and Casey sighed as she looked up some things about naked mole rats on her datapad and listened to a log of Admiral Pike's on her console that she'd listened to several times before already. She enjoyed the sound of his voice though, and when the door beeped twice and Spock entered when she ignored it, Casey found herself squeaking a little and trying to mute the console. She blushed wildly, and Spock raised an eyebrow, a slight smile on his face. He had no idea that Casey admired Pike so much, and he pointed to the console as she stood up and tossed the datapad on the couch.

"I was just…brushing up on stuff I've missed in the last six years—like Nero. Wow." Casey told him.

Spock nodded. "The time we spent trying to take out Nero was quite a fascinating experience."

Casey smiled. "I can only imagine! I'm so sorry to hear about the destruction of Vulcan—luckily you evacuated most of the counsel, so there is still history intact that the world is grateful not to lose."

"I read your Vulcan and Romulan dissertation." Spock told her with a glint of happiness in his eyes. "It was well researched—very accurate."

Casey beamed at him. "Thank you, Commander—I appreciate that you liked it so much. I really do think it was one of my best. Hey…do you know anything about naked mole rats?"


	4. VERY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****:**

_**Hey guys.**_

_**I have some bad news…**_

_**So last night my laptop died…and I haven't backed it up for two months.**_

_**What does that mean?**_

_**That means I have lost a whole lot.**_

_**That means I have no new updates and probably won't for a while.**_

_**I'm on my mother's computer right now and I don't know when I'm gonna get my laptop fixed or when I'm gonna get my documents back.**_

_**They think that since it's a driver/hardware problem they can fix it and recover my stuff.**_

_**We'll see.**_

_**Mom and I have fixing it on the highest priority—we're trying to get it done by Tuesday, but I don't know.**_

_**For those of you that don't know, I am going to Pennsylvania bright and early on the 22**__**nd**__**, and won't be back until the 28**__**th**__**.**_

_**However we also just got a new place and will be moving in there when I get back and I won't have Internet access until a week after that…or longer depending on how severe this laptop problem is.**_

_***makes a not happy face***_

_**I just wanted to let you guys know that it could be a while before I get anything updated at all and I'm kind of really messed up over it.**_

_**I seriously HATE losing documents.**_

_**I apologize that you guys have to wait forever again.**_

_**I love you all for your support of me.**_

**Kyla aka Pyro**


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